On tour production themes:I’ve kind of worked out a theme that I’m finalizing right now for the set up. Everything has generally been black [in the past] so I think I’m going for something a little different. And, we’ll just see how it goes. We’re also focusing heavily on performance and it will be nice to get back to playing some more aggressive sets and an hour is a perfect amount of time to do that in.

On performing The Black Parade on the Projekt Revolution tour:Being that we’re playing in front of a lot of Linkin Park fans and a lot of fans of other bands that are playing, we’d kind of like to mix it up and be able to show them a lot of different colors of the band. I’m sure people can guess the favorites. I mean, they know the favorites of the band and we always play those.

Top 10 Chester Bennington quotes, in no particular order:1. “We kind of want to be a band that’s kind of ambiguous.”

2. “We want to put on cool light shows, if we can, and we want to blow shit up.”

3. “If at the end of the day all we did was plant a bunch of trees, that’s cool with me.”

4. “I hope that that’s what we go down as, you know, a good rock band.”

5. “It’s like super recycled. It’s like even our inks are environmentally friendly.”

6. “I have quite a few theories on how companies can help their bands achieve greater success and stop just hemorrhaging money, but that’s not part of the question. The reality is I have no idea.”

7. “There is going to be plenty of information out there and we’ll be giving out some crap, too, that people can take home with them. It’ll be cool.”

8. “I think people get annoyed when they feel like it’s their responsibility to save the world, even though it kind of is our responsibility.”

9. “So, if you want to step out there and put your nuts on the line, go for it. We’re all for it.”

Transformers If Transformers the film is a feature-length GM commercial with a sci-fi narrative, then Transformers: The Album is equally shameless.

The Big Hurt: Here come the summer fests Look alive, alt-metal fans. Time to polish the wallet chain, spray some Febreze on the ol’ cargo shorts, and dye your goatee purple for maximum extremeness: festival season is nearly upon us!

Forward into the past! Could it be just a coincidence that as I sit here writing this, a grizzled Bob Seger is gearing up for the release of Face the Promise , the Detroit rocker’s first proper studio album in, oh, forever and a day? The Lemonheads, "No Backbone" (mp3)